The Tavern Challenge

Share a meeting place, a place of food, drink and company in your world setting! And win a bunch of goodies from the amazing Ghostfire Gaming!

This event has ended!
Scroll down to see all submitted entries

Description

"A tavern is a place where madness is sold by the bottle."
— Jonathan Swift, British Author

It's time to define a Tavern in your world, and we've teamed up with the amazing Ghostfire Gaming to do it! Taverns and inns, pubs, bars, clubs, and even hotels; these establishments host the first steps of campaigns a-plenty, provide recuperation and rest on an arduous journey, and can serve up a well-deserved drink after all that adventure! Your Tavern can be in any setting, of any name, or of any sort of title; bar, common house, gathering spot, club, lounge, inn, hotel, etc. You must use the Building template type on World Anvil. There are no special rules in this challenge, although it might be a good idea to include a tavern map!

Standard League Winner
Barbarossa Sparklebeard

Premier League Winner
Bob O'Brien

Prizes

All participants will receive the challenge participation badge. The winners will receive an extra shiny badge, have their article featured, and will be shouted out on the weekly World Anvil update stream and on official World Anvil social media accounts. Winners also receive a live article read on the World Anvil Community Livestream by Janet and Dimitris!

Additionally, winners will get the following incredible bundles from Ghostfire Gaming!

Premier League Prize Bundle

X1 Special Edition Copy of The Seeker’s Guide to Twisted Taverns

X1 Modular Tavern – The Daydream Tavern

X1 Seeker Plushie

X1 Conductor Plushie

Twisted Taverns Physical Map Pack

GM screen

Standard League Prize Bundle

X1 regular edition of The Seeker’s Guide to Twisted Taverns hardcover book

X1 Modular Tavern – The Daydream Tavern

X1 Seeker Plushie

Twisted Taverns Physical Map Pack

Premier League Features
Every week following the winners announcement, a Premier League entrant who made the shortlist will be featured on World Anvil at the beginning of the week!

The Brief

Wipe down those mugs, uncork the ale, and share your best gossip! We've teamed up with Ghostfire Gaming and we can't wait to read about an incredible Tavern in your world setting! To take part, all you'll need is a World Anvil account (they're free!). Then, create a new Building template article in your world to write your article. There's no special requirement for this challenge, but it might be a good idea to make a quick top-down map of your tavern! This challenge is designed to help you make a detailed and memorable location for your stories, be it RPG campaigns, novels or anything else! For inspiration, think of Quark's in Star Trek; The Star Wars Cantina, The Prancing Pony, in The Lord of the Rings; or, well, any tavern in Skyrim! There are so many ways to make your tavern feel unique! What is it made of, who built it, who runs it now, and what kind of customers does it get? You can go as deep as you like, exploring myths and legends surrounding a storied tavern, the kind of entertainment clients can expect and, of course, the food and drinks it serves! If you're looking for more inspiration, make sure to check out the resources section!

What to include in your article

The Building

What's unique or special about the building your tavern is housed in? Was it always a tavern, or is the building repurposed from something else - say a castle, a spaceship, a mill, the skeleton of a giant creature or even a giant tree? What is the building made of - does it feel breezy and cool, or cosy and warm? How many floors does it have, and how many rooms? Is it clean and beautifully painted, or run down and scummy? Remember to talk about where the tavern is, too - is it the only pub in a quaint village, a refuge in a desert oasis, or one of many divebars in the bad part of a CyberCity? How does its location affect it?

The Barkeep & Staff?

Who owns and runs the tavern, and how did they come to be in charge? Who else works at the tavern - servers, cooks, cleaners and more? What's expected of staff, and how friendly are they with customers?

The Tavern Tales

Longstanding taverns can be the source of rumours, intrigues and even legends! Taverns and pubs might hide a key witness or informant, a hidden secret, or even undiscovered treasure! And of course, any tavern worth its salt offers entertainment - a bard, card games (like Gwent!), darts, wrestling and more! How do customers remain entertained during their nights in your tavern?

The Rules

How to Enter

Firstly, all competitors will need a World Anvil account (don’t worry, it’s free!) to get started. Once you’ve logged in and created your first world, you’re ready to enter the competition. Write your entry using the Building template on World Anvil. Once you've finished your entry and are ready to submit, make sure that your article is not a draft (i.e. published) and public (not private) and then click the button on the right-hand side to submit it to the challenge.

Adjudication Criteria and Process

A shortlist of the top twenty entries (as ranked by community likes - ten from each league) will be compiled by the Master of Games. The Judges will choose the winner. The winner will be announced by the World Anvil Team on Saturday 16th of April on a World Anvil community stream. Entries will be judged on a number of criteria, including originality, presentation, and thoroughness.

Timeline	Event
March 5th - March 26th	Competition is opened and closed (both on livestream)!
March 26th - March 31st	Sharing period, give feedback, make minor edits.
April 2nd - April 16th	Adjudication and Judging
April 16th	Winner Announcement Date!

Other Rules

Articles for Submission must use the Building Template
Articles must be submitted before the closing time to be eligible (please note the challenge will close during a World Anvil livestream)
Articles will be taken from a shortlist of likes, the top ten from each league will be judged by the Master of Games or a guest judge.
You will be able to submit your article only if it is public!
Only one article may be submitted per person (this does not mean one article per world, in cases where multiple authors work on a single world).
Articles will have a 5 day-long period after the deadline to make small edits, share, and get feedback from the community. This period will end when the shortlist is compiled. The purpose of this deadline is to let people focus on writing and sharing separately.
Articles can be no longer than 2500 words in length!
Word Count will be counted by copying all words present in the article's body and sidebar into a word counter. The Timeline will also be added in the word counter. BBCode does not impact word count, attached articles do not impact word count, and will also not be considered during adjudication.
As always, World Anvil claims no ownership over your original work.

For any further questions or clarifications about this challenge, message the Master of Games, Barron, on the World Anvil Discord!

Social media sharing

Because community likes are an important metric in the competition, competitors may wish to share their entries on social media to garner more interest from the community.
Posts tagged with #TavernChallenge which mention @WorldAnvil may be shared by World Anvil's official social media accounts!

Leagues

There are two leagues that will be independently judged, the Regular and the Premier League. The Premier League consists of all the authors who have previously won a World Anvil competition. Winning a competition in the Regular league will promote you to the Premier League for future challenges.